1937 Ford Pickup - Price-less

Friday Night Build

When you've been building hot rods, muscle cars and trucks for 30 years, you keep raising the bar of the quality of each ride. Randy Price from Sharonville, Ohio, has always built his custom rides to drive and show-no trailer queens in his stable. Randy is a jet engine mechanic by trade, so you know he is very meticulous about everything, whether it rolls or flies. His visual perception, dedicated work ethic, craftsmanship and attention to detail are present in every inch of Randy's wild '37 Ford Downs-body flamed pickup. The truck was actually a "Friday night build". Randy's gearhead buddies would congregate on Friday evenings to help Randy with the 14-month build.

The LoBecks '35-'40 Ford frame was mated with a TCI independent front suspension, the rear framerails were C-notched, the frame was then sent out and powdercoated. The rear suspension was four-linked with a Panhard bar. All four corners are vertically activated by an Air Ride Technologies pneumatic bag system and LoBecks gas-filled shocks. The suspension's fabrication and installation was handled by the crew at Just A Hobby Hot Rods in Cleveland, Ohio. The suspension's original ride height was lowered 4 inches. Randy's purple haze rolls on a set of American Racing chrome 16x7-inch, Torque Thrust II five-spoke wheels consumed in Goodyear Eagle 205/55R16 rubber up front. Out back, a pair of 17x10-inch, Torque Thrust II five-spoke wheels are wrapped in healthy Goodyear Eagle 235/55R17 meats. The braking performance consists of GM front disc brakes and Ford drums in the rear connected by stainless steel solid lines. A 16-gallon fuel tank was yanked out of a '33 Ford and installed.

The grunt comes from a '84 Chevy 454ci V-8. The cast-iron block and heads have been machined, which increased the standard 454ci engine, into a 468ci stump puller by the crew at Butch Smith Race Engineering in Frankfort, Kentucky. After cleaning and machining the engine, it was assembled with all the right stuff. A single Holley 750-cfm carburetor feeds the precise air/fuel mixture through the Edelbrock intake manifold runners into the eight combustion chambers where the fuel is lit off. The exhausted gasses are then propelled through a pair of Sanders long tube, 2-inch Jet-Hot coated headers that merge into a 23/4-inch Flowmaster exhaust. A Mallory HEI ignition system maintains a consistent electronic charge and pulse to each cylinder. The engine was properly broken in between the framerails for 30 minutes at 2,000 rpm. After a few adjustments, the engine was fired again and the engine timing was fine-tuned. A GM 350 automatic transmission was gone through and upgraded with new internal components such as clutches, bands, sun and planetary gears, a servo, and some valvebody tricks that firmed up the shifts. The transmission gear selection is accomplished by grabbing the Lokar floor-mounted shifter. A custom-made driveshaft linked the Turbo 350 transmission to the Ford 9-inch rearend stuffed with 3.53 gears.

After the fiberglass Downs pickup body was fitted to the frame, the cab was chopped 23/4 inches. To consume the wide rear American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels and Goodyear Eagle tires, Randy widened the rear fenders and the running boards were widened 2 inches. A '37 Ford grille was installed flanked by a pair of '37 Ford headlight housings filled with halogen lights. Randy and Jim Barron from Oxford, Ohio, spent endless hours block sanding the body straight and smooth. The body was then prepped and painted, using PPG color and accents. Randy mixed his own custom hue-"Price Purple". Jim then poured paint into his paint gun pot and began applying basecoats to the surface. After the entire Downs '38 Ford body was saturated in "Price Purple", Wade Hughes, from Cincinnati, Ohio, engulfed the trucks hood, front fenders, and even through the cowl and cab with a yellow/red wispy, flaming inferno. After the flames were laid and sprayed, Josh Shaw, also from Cincinnati, used his steady hand and thin dagger brush to pinstripe the yellow flame's razor edges with fading yellow and green tips. After the flames were pinstriped, the entire body colors were buried in multi-coats of clear. The entire body surface was then cut, buffed and polished to a glistening, flawless finish. The bed floor planks were given many coats of high gloss oak finish separated by chrome stringers.

A cool, custom truck isn't complete until it is equipped with a serious music machine. You must have cruisin' tunes whether it's rock'n roll, country, jazz, or blues. Randy's truck is no exception. His system is driven by an Alpine CDA-9843 head unit and the mids/highs are powered by a JL Audio 4300 amp while the two JL Audio 10-inch subwoofers are powered by a JL2150 model. The two JL Audio 10-inch subwoofers are consumed in a custom-built enclosure that was designed and constructed by Jared Martin and hidden behind the seats. A pair of JL Audio XR650, mid/high speakers are located in the two front kick panels and a pair of Kicker KS63 speakers are located in the rear cab corners. Jared wired the entire sound system.

Opening the cab doors exposes the ultra-white, soft leather interior created by Steve Holcomb at Pro Auto Interiors, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Steve covered everything in white leather except for the floor, which is covered with Mercedes wool carpet. The custom-made door panels, center console, and headliner were all covered in ultra-white leather. A Vintage Air system keeps everyone cool and comfortable inside the cab during those hot summer cruises. An ididit steering column was capped with a LeCarra Banjo steering wheel.

Yes, Randy built this ride to be driven. He has already put over 12,000 miles on the odometer in a year and a half. He attends as many shows as possible including NSRA, Goodguys, ISCA, and local runs and cruises. Randy's truck was awarded PPG's outstanding use of color award at the '07 NSRA Street Rod Nats.

Randy's "Friday night build" was all about sharing the journey with his gearhead buddies. Randy's wife, Brenda, was very understanding and patient while putting up with Randy and his buddies each and every Friday night during the build. After Price-Less was completed, Randy promised Brenda he would remodel the kitchen. That was three hot rods ago. Guess what Randy's current project is? Instead of being bent over a fender adjusting a carburetor, he is bent over a counter installing a new kitchen sink.